RWBY: Remnants of the Forgotten World
by DragonKingDragneel25
Summary: Post Vol. 1 AU. During an extra-curricular with Dr. Oobleck, Ruby inadvertently stumbles upon the ancient ruins of a castle. Millennia old secrets are uncovered and Ruby, somehow, finds herself the key to some ancient last-ditch effort to save the world from darkness. However, things rarely go as planned...
1. Chapter 1

_**RWBY: Remnants of the Forgotten World**_

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**An: Alright, so let me explain: Last year…I hit a REALLY rough patch, and my writing suffered severely. Thankfully, at the latter part of the year I began to recover from that. And I think this is where this story comes from: It's my attempt to start fresh. I DON'T INTEND TO FORGET MY OTHER STORIES, rest assured, but I think I got too caught up worrying about what I was writing, and doubted everything I tried to write. But now I'm better, and I'm going to go back to basics! Just write for the sake of writing!**

**Ok. Now that that's said, allow me to explain a few things about this particular story: It will be AU (obviously) starting sometime after the last episode of Vol. 1. This idea came to me roughly after the middle of last month with the random thought that went something like this: "Remnant's got this wealth of potential. All that forgotten, untouched history…" And it kind of spiraled from there.**

**Please note that this story is inspired by several adventure type video games and will feature several video game-like devices like healing potions and will kind of feel like a video game at times. And another aspect of the story was inspired by the story "A Smaller, More Honest Soul" by GMaster1991. **

**There's a certain idea he/she employed for that story that I found unique and off the wall and I liked it very much, mainly because I had never seen it done before now (if it has been done before by another author before them, then I've never seen it). Obviously, my idea will differ greatly from GMaster's version of it, but I felt I needed to give the credit where it was due and make mention of it. **

**Another note is that I will be going in depth into the inner workings of Beacon classes and other things regarding teams. A part of this is inspired by "Mad, Mad Ruby Rose" by RayQ Cina. While there are parts of the story I don't particularly like, I did find the idea of Ruby having to clean up her team's messes to be kind of interesting, and I thought I'd expand on that.**

**Well, that's all I felt I needed to say for the moment! For now, please enjoy this new story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.**

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Chapter 1-The long fall

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Ruby moped at the fallen obelisk before her. It merely stared back at her blankly. She sighed in exhaustion and rubbed her eyes before refocusing on her task. She let out a small frustrated noise as she proceeded to glare at the slab of rock.

It was only a few days before the summer break from Beacon, and Ruby had been excited for what she believed was a well-deserved break from the events of the past few months. She had begun planning for the best summer the newly minted team RWBY had ever had when Professor Glynda Goodwitch entered her dorm room. At the sight of her combat instructor, Ruby had paled, even going as far as to turn white when Glynda delivered the news.

"Miss Rose," she said after her usual greetings, "it would appear that Miss Xiao Long has instigated another fight; while Miss Belladonna was caught raiding the kitchens for tuna; and Miss Schnee is being held in my office for insulting and assaulting a member of the faculty for a perceived slight against her family's name."

This was the biggest downside that Ruby had come to expect as the team leader: whenever her teammates acted out of line, it fell upon her to deal with the situation. Beacon Academy was a Huntsman academy, so any misbehaving/rule breaking was to be dealt with accordingly. And Beacon had a tradition of having the team leaders deal with their disobedient team members in order to teach the leader responsibility and give them experience dealing with any future insubordination from their team later in their careers.

Ruby, being Ruby, didn't have the heart to punish her team like some other leaders did. Instead, she'd take the responsibility upon herself and clean up their mess. Sure, it sucked, but at least her team weren't fighting with each other anymore. She made sure of that whenever she scheduled and instructed them during their team training. Sadly, she had yet to break them of their prideful nature, which is what resulted in Ruby now holding the record for most extra curriculars (their fancy way of saying 'detention') for the first semester of Beacon in its history. She shuddered to think about what kind of trouble her team would get in next semester.

She shook her head, trying to shoo away her annoyance and refocused on the fallen edifice.

"Loopy cross," she mumbled dully. "A churning sea." She attempted to draw the symbols she saw the best she could in the journal in her hands, and given she was well-versed in drawing blueprints for weapons, she did a very passible job of it. "A temple. A knight with a sword. And…" She frowned at the symbol. "Bird? No…Nevermore?" She turned through her field journal and moaned. "That's not it, either…" She turned back to the hieroglyph and narrowed her eyes in scrutiny. "It's got arms, and the head looks snake-like…"

"Any progress, Miss Rose?!" Ruby jumped in the air comically, waving her limbs frantically at the sudden noise. She landed hard with a thump. She groaned and turned her head to see Dr. Oobleck, the Huntsman overseeing her 'punishment,' staring at her expectantly.

"D-Dr. Oobleck!" she stammered. "Don't do that! You scared me!" He smiled sympathetically at her.

"Ah yes! My apologies, Miss Rose!" he apologized. "But you must remember we are still in Grimm infested territory! You must keep your wits about you and your mind sharp out here!"

"I know, I know," she grumbled, looking back down at her lap. With a sigh and returned to a kneeling position and grabbed her journal again. "I was trying to figure out this symbol here," she explained, pointing to the symbol fueling her ire. "It looks like a Nevermore, but it's too…uh…" She struggled to think of a good word. "…S-Snakey…?" she mused indecisively.

Luckily, Dr. Oobleck didn't mind Ruby's seemingly child-like response and nodded. "I see! Let me have a look!" He knelt down next to her and examined the obelisk. He hummed. "Yes, I see," he mused. "Very peculiar! I don't think I've seen this symbol before! Not even at the Forever Fall ruin site!

"Excellent find, Miss Rose! This will surely further our research!" he praised the reaper, making her blush in embarrassment, though she looked pleased at her discovery.

"Aw…it was nothing," she said with a swipe of her hand. "Besides, I don't know what it means…"

"The first step of deciphering a hieroglyph is identifying it is different from the rest, Miss Rose," he told her easily. "I think this will earn you an extra few Counters for your team next semester." Ruby smiled happily at that. "The Counter" system was something privy only to team leaders, as it pertained to how the leaders dealt with the insubordination of their team. If the professors believed the issue was dealt with in a satisfactory manner or the team leader passed/or did well in the extra-curricular, the team leader was appointed points, "Counters," to use as they wished: whether that was no homework for their team, extra time scheduled for team training, etc.

"That's awesome!" she proclaimed. She looked back at Oobleck and asked, "Sooo, what does it say?"

"Why don't you tell me, Miss Rose?" he answered, looking to her and pointing to her journal. "This is, after all, for your benefit."

'_You mean my punishment,'_ she thought moodily, but she apricated Dr. Oobleck for not rubbing that in. She shook her head and said, "Uh, sure, Dr. Oobleck..." She looked back down at her journal and frowned. "Um…Crosses mean praise, but the loopy one means…" She looked down at her notes and frowned. "Uh…danger? Yeah. Danger. The sea was used as a means to describe a large group of people, and the choppy sea represented evil people.

"So, danger to bad people is the first part," she interpreted. "The temple…uh…" She flipped through her journal to an earlier entry. "I think it meant…scared place…? And, uh…the knight with the sword is guardian…?" she finished uncertainly, sparing a glance at the experienced Huntsman. He smiled genially at her.

"Almost, Miss Rose," he said, eliciting a tiny wince from the reaper. "This particular society used the symbol of a grove as their sacred place. The temple referred to their kingdom's lands. Everything else, however, was rather spot on! Very well done, Miss Rose! You are becoming well versed in your history; you might even have a promising future as a fellow historian!" That brought a blush to the silver eyed girl's face.

"I-I mean I guess I wouldn't mind it," she mumbled as stood up and dusted off her knees. She placed her hands on her back and stretched, trying to work out the kinks in her spine. She grimaced as she said, "Especially after learning how _little_ Huntresses actually earn…"

"I, and many others, share your sympathies, Miss Rose," Oobleck said. "But sadly, with the tragic deaths of Huntsmen like Ruben Rathgar, Silva Bronzehorn, Monty Oum, and the disappearances of the Grimm Reaper, Gray Haddock, and your mother, the Councils have felt it best to limit full-time Huntsmen and Huntresses."

"It's stupid!"

"I do not disagree, but that is just how it is."

Ruby let out a noise of disgust at that. She walked to the other side of the obelisk and knelt down to investigate the hieroglyphs. She wiped the moss away and muttered, "I just want to hunt Grimm and help people feel safe! Why do they have to make it complicated?"

"Most likely they don't understand the crucialness of our profession," Oobleck answered as he came over to Ruby's side and knelt down as well. "Hmm…" His eyes narrowed at the symbols. "This one forms a personal message." Ruby looked to him in confusion.

"How can you tell?"

"This symbol here, Miss Rose," he explained, pointing to a woman pouring water out of an urn. "This society uses the woman and the urn to signal the message was for a specific person." He smiled exuberantly. "This is great! Miss Rose! If you would, please see if you can find who the message is for!" Ruby nodded.

"Sure," she said and began to follow the line of symbols down to the ground. "What, exactly, am I looking for, Dr. Oobleck?" she asked.

"Most likely the hieroglyphs for the king or queen," he told her. "You remember which symbols represent them, correct?" Ruby nodded.

"Yeah, the Nevermore and the Beowolf, right?"

"Correct!"

"Alright." She turned her attention back to the obelisk and followed the symbols, frowning when she noticed the last few ruins were covered in moss. She wiped it away and returned to identifying the symbols. There was the knight with the sword again, followed by the sun and moon in rotation; a symbol this society used for Remnant itself; and…

Ruby frowned. The last symbol of the sequence was different. Different because it looked…more detailed than the others. It was a woman with a flowing cloak whipping around her and a giant scythe in her hand. Ruby leaned forward, taking note of the carefully etched features that seemed very familiar to her.

Meanwhile, Oobleck was deciphering the previous hieroglyphs. "Let's see here…" He went from the hieroglyphs to his own journal and mused, "The horizon is the passage of time; and the goat is magic, and the gravestone is the end…So, the first segment is '_The era has magic has ended.'_" His interest increased. "Interesting! Very interesting! This is more information than I've found in years! This is stupendous!" He looked at the obelisk and wondered, "Though, I have to wonder why this one is such pristine condition. All others like it were nearly faded beyond restoration, yet this one is…well…it's as if it was destroyed mere months ago. Perhaps even years at the most…"

He sighed in enervation. "Well, that's not something I'll be finding out today, I fear. Best not exhaust myself worrying about it. Now then, what's next? Huh. That's odd. I can't identify the meaning of a few of these symbols. A broken moon, which is unusual, as this kingdom uses an unbroken one." As his confusion mounted, Ruby continued staring at the unusual hieroglyph, unconscious of the fact her eyes were growing cloudy. Oobleck was unaware of this as he continued his research.

"This one is bizarre as well," he mumbled. "A flower in bloom, and a wilted one. Two new ones. This one…pillars? No, it's different." He examined it further. He groaned quietly. "What does it stand for…?"

"**The era of magic has ended…**" Ruby spoke quietly, breaking Oobleck out of his thoughts. He turned to her and took notice of her clouded eyes and tranquil face.

"Miss Rose?" he questioned, but she didn't answer him. She didn't even acknowledge him as she continued to speak.

"**The era of the broken moon now reaches its final hour,**" she recited, headless of anything around her.

"Miss Rose…" Oobleck tried again, but she continued on.

"**Now a new era must rise,**" she quoted, "**else our world end once more. Arise, one chosen to be guardian of the world: Ruby Rose.**"

Suddenly, the ground shook violently. Oobleck was thrown to the ground as the tremor brought Ruby back to reality. She shook her head of a sudden fogginess and looked around in apprehension. "W-Wh-What happened?!" she asked in a slightly shaky tone.

"I do not know, Miss Rose! You were in some sort of trance, then an earthquake hit!" Oobleck said quickly.

The ground shook again, this time the area around them formed massive cracks. The two hunters gasped in shock as they were thrown back to the ground. Oobleck and Ruby noticed the cracks and paled. "MISS ROSE!" he shouted frantically. "WE NEED TO LEAVE! AT ONCE!"

"Y-YEAH! I TOTALLY AGREE!" she shouted back and jumped to her feet. Oobleck followed suit, but as soon as they turned to run, the ground shook one last time, and the ground gave way under them.

The two gasped and screamed as they began to feel gravity take hold of them. Instantly, their training kicked in; Oobleck flipped to a falling boulder and kicked off it, and began jumping from rock to rock before he jumped to the edge and grabbed hold.

Ruby, however, was not as lucky. Whatever had happened to her moments before had disoriented her, causing her reaction time to suffer. By the time she had gathered herself, a large piece of earth slammed into her head, causing her to cry out in shock as she spun in the air, getting hit by another piece of rubble, sending her tumbling around some more.

Oobleck finally pulled himself back on to solid ground and turned to see if Ruby had followed, but his eyes widened behind his glasses to see Ruby descending further, constantly bombarded by debris. "MISS ROSE!"

She didn't answer as she soon vanished into the dark abyss. "Miss Rose…" Oobleck said quietly. For the briefest moments, he stood there in silence, unbelieving of what had just happened. However, he quickly whipped out his Scroll and dialed up Ozpin's number and placed it to his ear.

"Professor Ozpin sir! I need assistance in quadrant 1-0, ASAP!"

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**With Ruby**

Ruby continued to be bombarded by falling rocks as she tumbled through the darkness. Every time she attempted to right herself, another boulder would hit her, sending her spiraling out of control. She tried firing Crescent Rose, but every time she brought her weapon to a position, she was hit with another slab of stone. It didn't help that the silver eyed huntress couldn't see a thing with how pitch black it was around her.

She wasn't sure how long she fell-it felt like hours to her- but soon, she heard stone crushing stone. Bizarrely, light streamed from a newly opened hole in what must have been the bottom of the hole she was falling through. Soon, exited into a large cave. With some luck, most of the rubble that had been bombarding her hit the edges of the newly made hole, clearing the air around the silver eyed maiden.

She quickly oriented herself and turned around to gauge her surroundings. Her eyes widened as she saw the magnificent ruins of a large castle before her! She shook her head and quickly brought Crescent Rose into position. She fired a round behind her and propelled herself towards the castle, hoping to break her fall in some way.

Luck…was not on Ruby's side however. Just as soon as she felt herself fly towards the fortress, the rocks from before finally broke through the rest of the cave's ceiling and sending more large slabs of stone down to the ground. One such slab clipped her side. Crying out in shock, she was sent spiraling out of control. She screamed in frustration as she tried to right herself, but she grunted loudly as she hit the side of a tower, making a hole appear in the wall and sending Ruby spinning in another direction.

Ruby gritted her teeth as she tried to see where she was going, only to hit a ceiling of a raised connection between two towers hard. She groaned as her Aura took the brunt of the impact, but before she could do anything, the roof buckled and gave way. She gasped and screamed as she fell through the roof and landed on the floor of the bridge, only for it to break as well, sending Ruby falling to the ground.

Ruby twisted in the air so her feet were facing the ground, hoping she could hit the ground in a roll and minimize the impact of her landing. She looked to the ground and only noticed too late there was a giant green glass orb right beneath her! She was too close to it now, so she braced herself and landed hard on the surface. The glass shattered under her weight instantly. She closed her eyes to prevent any glass from entering her eyes, but she felt herself land hard on cold steel.

She gasped in pain as she collapsed and fell of the pedestal and hit the ground with a heavy thud. Ruby groaned in discomfort as she felt herself black out.

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**An: And so that's the first chapter of this story! I apologize if the last part was not good on quality. I didn't want it to drag on terribly and wanted it done. But I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless! Be sure to leave a review and tell what you thought of it! Constructive criticism welcome! Have a Happy New Year!**


	2. 2, The Ruined Castle

**RWBY: Remnants of the Forgotten World**

**An: Two chapters in one month? I'm improving! Here's hoping for three! Since I'm almost done with The God of Destruction comes to Remnant's next chapter as well. Not a bad start off for the year, if I do say so myself! Hope this chapter entertains y'all! I'm enjoying writing this story very much!**

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Chapter 2- Ruined Castle

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Darkness was all Ruby could see as her eyes fluttered open. Her mind tried to piece together what happened, but it felt like her mind was moving through a sea of molasses. Everything seemed so sluggish.

Sounds whispered in her ears. Groggily, she pushed herself off the ground, her arms shook with the strain of lifting herself up. She slowly began shifting her weight to her knees, taking a bit of the tension off her arms as she made her way to her feet.

Her vision began to clear up, colors had begun to waltz into her sight as she attempted to look around. Her perception was still out of whack, because to Ruby it was like the whole world was cloaked in a black curtain, and the colors were trying to swing them away. She frowned as she placed a hand on her head and groaned in pain. It felt like Yang had punched her in the head at full strength, shaking up everything inside.

'_Do…Do I have a concussion?'_ she thought. A painful throb echoed in her head, making her groan loudly.

'_Yep. Definitely got a concussion…'_

Two bright lights of green flashed in her peripheral vision, making her frown. She turned and grimaced. '_I must be worse off than I thought,'_ she mused, frowning at the sight before was the only explanation she could give to the sight of a green-tinged man as she watched him blearily.

He seemed to be looking for something. The man's head darted from one direction to another trying to locate something. Ruby watched in confusion until the man grabbed something. Suddenly, more green entered her vision. She gasped at the sight of a kid being dragged by the man! The kid seemed to be resisting, and the man reached out and slapped the kid. Ruby gasped.

"H-Hey…!" she stammered out. "S-Stop that!" Heedless of her pounding head and aching body, she charged forward, reaching the two quickly and threw her hands into the man's chest in order to push him away from the kid.

However, her hands went straight through the man, as if he was made of mist. The reaper blinked in confusion until she realized her vision was clearing up. She gasped at the sight of the massive fortification.

"Whooa!" she breathed. "T-That's a castle! A real, authentic castle! Ow, ow, ow!" She winced as her head throbbed again. She rubbed her temples gently. She looked up at the castle and stared in awe. "I've never seen an actual castle like this before! Let alone one this HUGE!" She turned circles to try and get a scope of the castle. "Oooohhh! I wonder who lived in it! Oh!" She looked around for her journal. "I should find some hieroglyphs and decipher them for Dr. Oobleck!" She looked up and gasped. "Are those Dust crystals?! I've never SEEN ones so big! I wonder why they're giving off so much light…!"

She paused, blinking owlishly. "Wow. Dr. Oobleck is rubbing off on me," she mumbled. She was broken out of her musings by a loud, thunderous roar. She flinched at the volume and surveyed her surroundings attentively.

"Grimm," she muttered. Gently shaking her head, she said, "No time to admire architecture, Ruby." She looked around and found Crescent Rose a few feet from her, looking no worse for wear. She smiled and jogged up to her trusty weapon. She picked it up and continued, "First things first, find a way back up to the surface." She looked around and frowned. "If…I can find a way out…"

She shook her head. "No! Think positive, Ruby! You can do it!" She smiled and collapsed Crescent Rose, placing back on its magnetic holster. "Now then! First thing I gotta do…is get to higher ground! Maybe then I can find a way back up that hole I fell through! Or even better, some other route to the surface!"

She looked around and noticed some stairs heading up around a tower. Figuring it was better than nothing, she began jogging towards the stairway when she noticed her journal on the ground. She didn't stop running as she reached down and grabbed the black notebook and tucked it away for later.

Just as she made it to the stairs, another deafening roar bellowed around her, closer than the last one. Flinching at the volume again, she gasped as she felt the ground shake under her. Concerned, she quickly activated her Semblance and raced up the stairs in a hail of rose petals. She whined a little when her abrupt burst of speed agitated her headache. However, she was quickly silenced by a loud CRASH! Stiffening up, she threw herself against a wall and peaked around the tower. She was forced to smother a gasp of shock.

A massive, three toed claw was resting on the platform she was previously on. Her eyes widened as the head of the largest Grimm she had ever encountered rose from the depts. The white bone plates on the face shinned in the unnatural light; Ruby shivered as another clawed hand appeared and grabbed the tower she was hiding behind. The massive claws latched onto the stone, making a few pieces fall around Ruby. She hugged the wall to stay clear of them.

More of the body rose up from further below, and Ruby finally got a better look at what it was. It was a snake type Grimm, but one far different from the King Taijitu variety. Not only did this Grimm have claws, it had _feathers_ instead of scales. Massive red tipped black feathers lined the body of the muscular Grimm as it trudged forward. Its claw from the platform rose and reached for another tower and grabbed it. It pulled itself forward, and Ruby also saw that the snake Grimm had wings! Two massive feathery wings stretched out to their full one hundred and twenty-foot wingspan as Ruby watched silently as the humongous serpentine Grimm continued forward.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the tail; which seemed to be outfitted with a sickle-like bone blade type deal; passed by her. She took in a shaky breath.

"W-W-What the heck…?" She quivered in fright. "That was the biggest Grimm I've ever seen…Is it the reason this castle is down here?" She looked around and grunted. "Well, I ain't sticking around to find out!" She turned to see a covered path heading down to what appeared to be a courtyard with a giant green orb in the center, like the one she fell on. She nodded briskly. "I've just gotta follow the path!"

Sparing a quick look around, just in case that ginormous Grimm came back, she began to walk down the path to the courtyard. As she walked down, she surveyed her surroundings. Her eyes shined with wonder at the expanse the castle took up. It was HUGE! Towers sprung out of the abyss around them like giant spires out of the nothing. The main structure, though damaged by time, stood tall many miles to her right. Mist rose around it, making Ruby assume there was an underground water source nearby.

That would come in handy if she couldn't an immediate way out.

She was about halfway across the bridge when the edifice shook, a loud hissing sound racking across the area. Eyes widening, the black-and red-haired girl ducked and curled up against the left side of the bridge path's wall. The hissing grew louder, and Ruby braved a peak over the wall.

The massive snake Grimm returned, making its way from around the perimeter wall. Luckily, it wasn't looking her way, but the sight of the feathered snake was enough to make her heart beat a little quicker than normal. She tried to force herself to calm down. Getting worked up would only attract the massive Grimm.

She knew that she had no hope of beating it alone.

The Grimm reached the bridge and slid its belly across the roof. Bits of stone shook from the ceiling as the serpent slithered across, just a bit away from where she was crouched. Ruby quietly took a few steps back, just in case the ceiling collapsed on top of her. The snake's arms were flat against its body as it came to a stop and unfurled its wings.

With a loud hiss, the Grimm inexplicably flapped its powerful wings and took off! The massive displacement of air destroyed parts of the bridge, making Ruby squeak quietly at the sudden shaking it caused as she curled into a ball to hopefully avoid most of the rubble. The behemoth of a Grimm flew away towards the main part of the castle, but not before letting its sickle tail slash through the stone causeway.

Ruby, slowly, rose from her position and saw the Grimm was out of sight now. She sighed in relief before turning to the broken bridge. She grimaced. The only things still standing were the support pillars, and even they looked wobbly. She frowned. Should she try and jump across them? It didn't sound like the best option, but she wasn't sure if there was another path or not. Swallowing her fear, she nodded to herself and backed up a bit to gain momentum. When she was comfortable with the distance, she bolted forward and jumped with all her considerable leg strength.

She reached the first support pillar and landed easily. It was actually a lot sturdier than she originally thought. It didn't shake when she landed on it. She let out a quiet "Whoa!" as she regained her balance on the stone structure. She looked at the others. She breathed in. '_Ok. One down.'_

She tensed and jumped for the other pillar. This one wobbled as she landed on it, making the cloaked huntress yelp in surprise as she attempted to keep it from falling. After she stabilized her perch, she jumped to the next one. This one was sturdier than the last, but it still swung in the air when she made contact with it.

Suddenly, a loud, resounding roar echoed throughout the cave, startling Ruby so bad she nearly fell off the structure. The sound of furious wing beats turned her attention to the main castle, and she screamed in terror. The giant Snake Grimm was FLYING RIGHT AT HER!

She slipped and nearly fell off the tower before she leaped to the next pillar, merely to kick off it and hurtle towards the next one. The Grimm picked up speed and was closing the gap between them fast, and Ruby was barely halfway across. As she landed on the next stone pillar, she crouched down and, using all her strength, she leaped forward whilst activating her Semblance.

A blur of rose petals burst towards the unbroken side of the bridge at ridiculously fast speeds. The Grimm noticed this and changed directions, heading for its fleeing target. Ruby reached the other side, but her head began throbbing again, making her hiss and lose control of her Semblance. Because of this, she tripped, making her gasp as she began tumbling down the stairs before her, grunting and exclaiming the whole way.

The Grimm finally reached the bridge and rammed into the unbroken part head first, twisting its impressive body as it air-slithered towards the flailing girl. Ruby grunted and groaned as she fell head over foot down the stairs while the gigantic snake Grimm continued its path of destruction to reach her. She hit the courtyard hard and rolled into the entrance of a stone hedge maze. She landed on her back and watched, wide eyed, as the Grimm closed in on her.

To her complete confusion, however, just before the Grimm reached the courtyard, it inexplicitly rose and flew over the courtyard. Its roar shook the ground below her as it flew away. Ruby blinked owlishly for a moment.

"What the heck just happened?" she asked, bemused. She massaged her aching head and stood shakily. She groaned as she placed her hands on her back and cracked her spine a bit. "Why'd it stop?" She shook her head lightly. "I probably should just be happy it's gone. Never look a gift Equine in the mouth, Dad would say!"

But, just to be sure, Ruby carefully stuck her head out of the hedge maze and looked around. Not seeing anything, she carefully walked out of the maze with Crescent Rose at the ready in rifle form. She looked around as she walked over to the broken bridge. She reached the edge and sighed.

"Looks like I can't go that way anymore," she grumbled. She turned to walk the perimeter, hoping for another bridge or a new pathway. She groaned a bit as her head throbbed again, but she soldiered through it.

As she reached the edge of the maze, she caught sight of the green orb she had seen earlier. She began walking towards it, keeping Crescent Rose at shoulder level as she moved. She passed a wrought iron fence, its gates utterly destroyed. The silver eyed warrior took note of it as she trudged forward, not letting it compromise her focus.

She reached the green orb and stared at it. It was huge, bigger than any glass fixture she had ever seen. Ruby narrowed her eyes at the sphere. It looked as if there was some sort of green mist inside of the orb. Trepidation crept into her mind. She had fallen on one of these things. And she was sure it had some of the same mist stuff in it, given her weird vision when she woke up. Could it have been poisonous? If it was, did it effect the mind? Could it kill her?

She hoped not.

Loud footfalls interrupted her musings. She quickly turned and brought Crescent Rose to the ready. However, the sight that greeted her made her gasp in wonder. Coming up behind her was a seven-foot-tall being made of stone. It had glowing pin-prick eyes and was dragging a massive slab of stone.

"Ooooooooooh!" the reaper exclaimed. "A golem?! I thought those only existed in video games!" She jogged up to the tall being and observed, "Oh wow! I can't see any Dust valves! Internal power source?! How does it cool itself?! Ah! It's proportionated to a human! Such beautiful attention to detail! It's…it's…IT'S SO AMAZING!" She jumped up in glee as she shouted that. "Oh man! This is the coolest thing I've ever seen!"

Suddenly, the golem swung its massive stone weapon at Ruby. She exclaimed in surprise and quickly side-stepped the attack, causing it to crash into the ground and make a crater. "Apparently, the feeling's not mutual!" she squeaked and turned to run the other way. However, another golem had snuck up behind her while she was distracted and swung a stone sword at her. She yelped and quickly activated her Semblance and raced behind it, faltering as it agitated her headache.

However, she recovered quickly. Unfurling Crescent Rose into its full scythe form, she swung the punishing blade at the golem's side, only to have it bounce off the hard stone. She recoiled and stumbled back. The golem turned and tried to hit her, but Ruby had already retreated away to a safe distance.

She tried to swing at it again, but her massive scythe once again bounced off, jarring her arms at the impact. The other golem reached them and swung its makeshift club at her head, but Ruby ducked under it and swung Crescent Rose at its legs, but she was met with the same result, though the golem did stumble a bit at her hit. She swung at it a few more times at both of them before she backed off, huffing in exertion. She narrowed her eyes at the two stone animatronics before her. Her weapon wasn't enough to break through that stone! Dang it! How was she supposed to beat them?!

She looked over them in scrutiny, trying to find a way to beat them. They lumbered towards her at a rather sluggish manner; Ruby glared at them until she noticed something weird about the joints of the golems. They didn't look like they were stone. She narrowed her eyes at the joints. Deciding to test her theory, she slammed her scythe's blade into the ground and fired a round at one of the golems' arm joints.

The shot hit the joint of the sword wielder perfectly, causing a loud sound of metal ripping into metal to resound around the area as the golem's sword arm began leaking some dark bluish liquid and fall to its side uselessly. The golem didn't even notice as stumbled back. Ruby was shocked, but she quickly recovered smirked.

"Oooooooh!" Ruby raced forward; Crescent Rose raised high. She reached the sword wielding golem and swung at its neck. The golem didn't react in time, and the silver blade connected to its target, easily cutting through whatever metal its neck was made of and beheading the golem. The bluish liquid gushed out of the stump like a fountain as the golem fell to the ground. Ruby didn't stop as she bolted towards the second golem, which swung its weapon horizontally. Ruby fell to her knees and slid under the massive hunk of rock. She reached the golem and quickly spun around, bringing her sniper-scythe around to hook the back of the golem's legs. Retracting her weapon, she cut the knee joints perfectly as she returned to her feet and swung at the golem's neck, beheading it as well.

Ruby stopped her rotation and straightened up to survey her handiwork. She smiled. "Hah! Ruby Rose two! Baddies zippo!" she said loudly before sighing loudly. "But man! That was crazy! Never thought I'd see some actual golems down here." She walked up to the one before her, but just as her boot touched the liquid pooling around it, smoke arose around it with a loud sizzling sound.

Ruby squeaked and stumbled away from it, lifting up her leg to examine her boot's sole. "What the…?!" The red-and-black haired girl stared wide eyed at the melted rubber of her boot. "That gunk's corrosive?!" She looked over to her beloved scythe and noted that the blade was smoking, but the only damage it seemed to have was from her attempt to cut through the golem's stone hide.

She relaxed a bit. "Thank goodness!" she breathed. "I really didn't want to have to re-forge you, Crescent!" She smiled at the weapon. "Not to mention you melting would make it ever tougher to get out of here too!"

Her reprieve was broken by the roar of the giant snake Grimm, making her flinch. "Crap!" She looked around for the Grimm, but she didn't see it. That didn't reassure her, however. "Dang it! Where is it?!" She turned and noticed an open passageway on the side of the wall closest to the green sphere. "Well! No use standing here and waiting for it! Gotta lose it!"

She stored Crescent Rose away and ran for the passage way, going full tilt towards the doorway. She reached it without any trouble and turned to quickly survey her surroundings again. Still no sign of the Grimm. She nodded and walked through the entry and noticed stairs heading down. She groaned.

"I want to go _up! _Not _down!_" she complained, but the silver-eyed warrior descended nevertheless. The passageway emptied out to another courtyard, one lit in an ominous blue light emitted by a large Dust Crystal in the center. The courtyard also had a large canopy above it, seemingly keeping the blue light in place around the courtyard.

Ruby stepped out of the hall and immediately noticed green to her left. She looked over and gasped in wonder. She ran to the side and looked down. "Oh woooooooowww!" she gushed. "There's an actual garden down here?! And it's BEAUTIFUL!" The Huntress in training gleefully looked around the massive garden in wonder. "How do the plants down there survive down here?! Oh man! This place is so scary and so awesome at the same time!"

Suddenly, she heard a loud banging noise behind her. She turned and gasped at the sight of five golems falling through the ceiling! "Oh, come on!" She grabbed and spun Crescent Rose around and prepared for a fight, but the courtyard shook by a very loud, very familiar roar. Ruby cried, "Are you KIDDING me?!"

The reaper began making a break for the stairway, but the snake Grimm appeared from above the canopy, hissing balefully as it slammed its head into the floor of the quad and destroyed it. Ruby gasped and screamed as she began falling towards the garden below her. She acted quickly as to not have a repeat of her fall down into the cave, firing Crescent Rose and sling-shooting herself away from the rubble. Having succeeded in her task, she turned and saw she was heading towards a domed structure at the edge of the garden. She smiled at that, quickly thinking of using it to break her fall.

Hopefully it would work out a lot better than last time.

Her attention was again diverted by the snake Grimm roaring at her, making her look back and scream as the Grimm was almost on top of her! A gasp of fear escaped her lips before her Huntress training took hold. She spun to face the serpent and collapsed Crescent Rose into its rifle form. She fired several rounds at the behemoth, but like she suspected, the rounds didn't even scoff up the bone mask. Ruby continued firing, hoping she could find some way to get herself out of this mess.

Suddenly, just like the last time, the snake Grimm hissed loudly and immediately pulled out of its nosedive. The wind off the abrupt change in direction hit Ruby hard, making her squint her eyes against the stinging gusts hitting her face. Ruby tried to open her eyes against the gale, only to gasp at the sight of the sickle bladed tail flying right her! She raised Crescent Rose in defense just as the sickle blade racked against her Aura and sent her flying downwards.

She cried out as her Aura flickered dangerously and the sound of metal shattering stung her ears. She didn't have time to wonder about that, however, because soon she slammed into the domed structure and broke through the ceiling. She cried out in pain as her grip on Crescent Rose loosened. She tried to spin and land on her feet, but too soon, her side connected hard with something metal…again. This time, however, her Aura shattered on impact, making her drop her weapon and scream in pain.

Shaking in pain, she moaned in agony as she flopped onto her stomach and pushed herself up with her arms. "Ooowww…" she droned, her eyes fluttering as she tried to open them. As her vision cleared, she frowned when she realized she was on some sort of metal-no, silver? -box. Hieroglyphs covered its face and seemed to be lined with a white stone.

Ruby couldn't think much of it because just as her mind registered the symbols, the box flashed, and she was overcome with pain. She screamed out in anguish, trying to roll off the box, but she couldn't move; it was like she was glued to the container. The silver-eyed girl's screams grew in volume as the pain increased, making it feel as though her insides were being melted.

The box flashed again, brighter this time. Ruby's screams grew even louder with the new sensation of ice rushing through her veins, giving momentary relief from the pain only for it to return mere milliseconds later and reburn everything again, but many times worse. Tears leaked out of her eyes as she wished for the pain to stop.

Unexpectedly, her left eye began to burn. She screamed herself hoarse as the pain that had been everywhere was now centered around her left eye. She wailed out as the burning got progressively worse and worse, feeling as though someone was poking her eye with a million tiny, red-hot needles all at once.

Mercifully, the pain stopped as mysteriously as it began. Ruby gasped painfully as she found herself rolling off the metal case and hit the hard ground. She whimpered in agony as her back connected with the ground, and darkness claimed her vision once again.

* * *

**An: Next chapter is where the plot begins to take off. So please don't miss it!**


	3. 3, Answers in the Tomb

_**RWBY: Remnants of the Forgotten World**_

**An: I swear. This chapter hates me. Apologies for the late update; the exposition of this chapter was difficult to write. I apologize if it's pretty weak as well, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.**

* * *

Chapter 3-Answers within the Tomb

* * *

**Emerald Forest; makeshift base**

It had taken little less than an hour for Ozpin and a squad of Huntsmen and Huntresses to reach Dr. Oobleck's location, and thirty minutes to set up the base.

For Bartholomew Oobleck, it was too long. Ruby was now missing for an _hour and thirty minutes._ There was no telling how much danger she was in right now! However, objectively he knew this was the best they could accomplish, so he, reluctantly, kept his annoyance in check.

Currently, he was standing next to Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch as the remainder of team RWBY stood behind them, with Ruby's sister Yang pacing angrily. Oobleck had just finished explaining what had happened to Ozpin and Glynda. Ozpin and sighed tiredly and nodded.

"I see," he said after the explanation. "This is indeed very strange."

"Strange?! _Strange?!_ My sister's missing, possibly hurt or worse, and all you can say about this whole fucking thing is _STRANGE?!_" Yang raved, turning her currently ruby eyes towards her teachers in fury.

"Watch your language, young lady!" Glynda hissed, matching the young woman's glare with her own. Yang tried to stare down her teacher, but it didn't do any good. She turned away from Glynda and gritted her teeth in rage. The combat teacher turned back to Ozpin and said, "Have we been able to establish connection with Miss Rose yet?" The headmaster shook his head.

"I'm afraid not," he answered. "She must be too far underground for any signal to reach her."

"Then we must form a team to go and retrieve her!" Oobleck said swiftly.

"And risk more of the hole collapsing?" Glynda asked tensely.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take!"

"Let's think this through first," Ozpin said calmly. "First, I have to ask: are you sure Miss Rose used her name in this trance?"

"Yes, sir. It was clear as day," Oobleck confirmed with a nod. "Not only that, she translated the whole segment of the obelisk as if she was reading Vytalian."

That worried Ozpin a bit. Being as old as he was, he knew of only a few things that could cause someone to go into a trance like the one Bartholomew described. And almost all of them existed before the God of Darkness destroyed humanity the first time. If Ruby and Oobleck were really studying the ruins of one of those civilizations, he dreaded to think about what the young Rose was suffering at the moment.

"What did it say?" he asked.

"_**The era of magic has ended,**_" Oobleck recited. "_**The era of the broken moon reaches its final hour. Now a new era must arise, else our world end once more. Arise, one chosen to be guardian of the world: Ruby Rose.**_ In that exact wording."

Ozpin was sure his blood froze in his veins at the message. That was FAR too foreboding for his liking. But before he could do anything else, Weiss Schnee spoke up.

"Who would go through such an elaborate plot to get at Ruby?" she asked. "She doesn't have any enemies apart from a few arrogant students here at Beacon!"

That wasn't strictly true, considering what he knew. But even he would admit, this wasn't any plan of _hers._ It left far too many variables unaccounted for. Too many loose ends that could be exploited.

Still, that forced Ozpin to think on who would want Ruby. And if it was an old kingdom, which one?

And that was the problem. Given the structure of the statement, he wasn't sure which it could be. Especially since magic didn't exist in the same way now as it did before humanity's first death. He was just as clueless as everyone else.

"We can worry about that a_fter _we find Miss Rose!" Oobleck said.

"I'm telling you, Bartholomew, we need to stabilize the crater first!" Glynda hissed. "It won't do any good if we end up trapping ourselves down there with her!"

"The sinkhole is big enough we can head down the center in a small airship!" Oobleck countered. "The edges can be worked on while the team heads down in the safety of the center where we are least likely to in another cave-in!"

"But what about the bottom of the hole, Barty?! What if it's smaller than you're thinking and the team gets caught at the bottom in the event of a cave-in?!" Glynda snapped back.

"We have to take that risk!"

"No risk is worth taking if it gets us all killed!"

"Enough you two," Ozpin said, gaining their attention. "We don't have time to waste on arguing here. Miss Rose is in trouble, and we need to form a plan of action that ensures the safety of us all, while allowing us to move to Miss Rose's rescue as quickly as possible. Understand?"

"Yes, of course!" Glynda agreed.

"Absolutely, Ozpin!" Oobleck nodded in affirmation. The headmaster nodded firmly.

"Good. Now let's go find us a pilot and get his opinion on the matter," Ozpin said. "With some luck, we can get this operation starting soon." He turned to walk outside of the tent but before he could, Weiss spoke up.

"I just don't understand," Weiss commented idly. Ozpin turned to her motioned for her to continue. Weiss did so without hesitation. "Why was Ruby out there in the first place? Despite a few bad grades here and there and being two years younger than the rest of us, she's still one of the top students in our year. Why was she taking an extra-curricular this late in the semester?"

"That is a good point," Blake mused. "Come to think of it, she takes a lot of those extra-curriculars."

Ozpin bit back a sigh. He had expected them to wonder that. He contemplated on telling them the reason, but he shook his head. No. If Ruby hadn't told them, there was bound to be a good reason behind it. And he was sure he knew what the reason was.

However, it appeared the guilt at failing Ruby was affecting Oobleck more than he thought, because the hyperactive teacher turned to the three and leveled a glare at them. The three girls shifted uncomfortably at the gaze of their history teacher.

"You want to know the reason?" he said lowly. "It's because of your three!"

"Bartholomew!" Glynda reprimanded, but it didn't do any good. Yang, however, felt her anger rise.

"Us?!" she shouted, about to go on a rant, but Oobleck spoke up again.

"YES!" he shouted back, making Yang flinch. "You three are the most rambunctious team in your year that includes team CRDL! You three should have been punished more than you have, but you should be thankful that Miss Rose is far too kind for her own good!"

"Wait…what are you talking about?!" Weiss asked in confusion. Ozpin sighed and turned to them.

"Have you three ever wondered," he began, "when you were caught breaking the rules, you got off rather light?"

"Ozpin!" Glynda shouted incredulously. The rest of team RWBY, however, thought about what Ozpin had said.

"What?" Yang's temper had abated enough that her red eyes faded back to lilac as she looked at her headmaster in confusion. "I thought all that stuff didn't warrant a more severe punishment."

"It did confuse me why Beacon seemed so lax in its disciplinary system," Weiss mumbled, thinking hard about what he had said.

"Why are you bringing this up?" Blake asked with narrowed eyes. Ozpin didn't blink as he turned a blank stare at the three.

"Beacon has a long-standing tradition," he started. "One that has been around for years now. We encourage the team leaders to handle the punishments of team members that violate school rules."

"Ok? So, what's this have to do with Ruby being out here because of us?" Yang asked, still not getting it.

"Normally," Ozpin continued, "the leader would assign a punishment to the offender in their team, what we the staff call an 'extra-curricular,' in order to train them with dealing with insubordination in the future."

Yang was still lost, but Weiss gasped in realization. "But, Ruby…!" she exclaimed but found she couldn't finish her sentence. Yang turned to her teammate.

"What?! Ruby what?!" she asked, turning between Weiss and Blake, who started to understand herself.

"Ruby took our punishments for herself," she mumbled, stunning Yang.

"But…but…"

"Miss Rose obviously has a good reason for what she did," Ozpin placated gently. "But right now, we need to worry about her reasons _after_ we save her."

"Why shouldn't we now?!" Yang asked angrily, her eyes turning red again.

"Because if we can't save Miss Rose now, you won't be able to ask her about it later," Ozpin said before Yang could continue. The blonde brawler stopped short at that. She ground her teeth together and turned away from the others, flicks of embers falling from her blonde hair. The headmaster of Beacon sighed and called out, "I'll be back in a moment."

With that, he left the tent, intent on seeking the pilot he was needing as his mind mulled over the numerous questions he had.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

A sharp pain drew Ruby to consciousness. She whimpered at the pain as her eyes fluttered behind her eyelids. She cried more as the pain increased in her left eye. She tried to open her eyes, but the pain in her left prevented her from doing so.

Instead, she focused on her right, which opened blearily. Everything looked grey and blocky as her vision attempted to right itself. She whined a bit as she tried to move her arms, only to find them feeling extremely heavy.

She groaned as she forced her arms up and to push her off the ground. Her arms shook at the pressure, and Ruby found herself kissing the ground again as they gave out. She whined a bit against the floor.

Her vision started clearing up. She looked up as the grey splotches turned into stony brown and a spectral light shining against the walls. Ruby frowned at the unnatural way the light flickered against the walls. She focused on her other senses. Her hearing, in particular, caught gentle splashing.

So, the light was reflecting off a pool of water? Ok. That's a thing.

Again, Ruby placed her hands on the ground and groaned as she pushed herself off the ground enough for her to drag her legs under her. She slowly sat up on her legs and looked around. The darkened room was illuminated by a light source behind her; clearly from her crash landing. It was a fairly large and rounded room, nearly double the size of Beacon's auditorium/combat classroom.

In the center was a massive spire of stone with an orb of blue glass on top. Peculiarly, an antique workbench sat at one side of the room with a several scattered items across its face. Two large, double doors of stone loomed menacingly center of the far wall. The walls were littered with hieroglyphs, some Ruby could make out, others were some she had never seen before.

She stared around the room for a brief moment before she tried to open her left eye again. Sharp pain shot through her again, but she gritted her teeth against the pain and forced her eyelid up. It was difficult to keep open, and everything was blurry on her left side.

Groaning, she turned around, noting her left eye was clearing up, and caught sight of the massive silver box she landed on; and with a start, she noticed it wasn't just some ordinary box…

It was a coffin.

She squeaked in fear and tried to scurry away from it, but as she started to crawl away, the lights, even the light streaming from the hole she made, dimmed. The coffin glowed silver, making Ruby gasp as the light blinded her for a moment. The wind rushed around her, despite there being no breeze in the room. The light dimmed, and Ruby opened her eyes to again, but this time she gasped in shock at the sight before her.

Standing before the coffin was a young woman, maybe just a few years older than Ruby herself, with long black hair and blue eyes. Her robes were a sky blue with indigo stars adorning the fabric, and her face was set with a forlorn expression. All in all, she was very beautiful.

The only problem was that she was translucent.

Ruby gaped at the visage of the woman, unsure if she should move or speak until the woman looked at her and smiled sadly.

"_**Greetings, and salutations, Ruby Rose."**_

The words startled Ruby again. The woman's mouth didn't move, but Ruby heard her clearly. The red-black haired teen struggled to find her voice. "W-What…" Her voice was thick, raspy from screaming in pain. Her throat hurt as she talked. "Wh-What are you…?" The spectral figure raised a pale hand to her unmoving lips as giggling resounded through the room.

"_**Do not be afraid, Ruby Rose. I have no intention to harm you,"**_ she said. _**"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Aurora. And I am the princess of the Kingdom of Temne Svetlo. Or…I was."**_ Ruby stiffly made her way to her feet as the being continued speaking. _**"Now my kingdom is nothing more than a decrepit shell of its former glory."**_

"W-What happened…?" Ruby asked, looking around what she now knew to be a tomb. Aurora shook her head in sorrow.

"_**What happens to all kingdoms that are not cared for," **_she said. The ghost princess didn't have to elaborate further. Ruby could already tell.

"Grimm," she said.

"_**The ravages of time,"**_ Aurora told her, confusing Ruby. _**"True, the Grimm were a problem, but my kingdom had certain protections from them. It was time that was the ultimate enemy of my kingdom, and no one to maintain the upkeep of it."**_

"I…I don't understand…"

"_**You will know soon, Ruby Rose, I assure you,"**_ the princess said. _**"But I am afraid I do not have much time left. Your entry to my resting place has caused me to wake far too soon, and I must explain how you came to this castle."**_

Ruby leaned back at that. "You had something to do with that…?" she breathed disbelievingly. Aurora nodded.

"_**I did,"**_ she confirmed. _**"To know why, we must go back…"**_ Suddenly, the room began vanishing into a multitude of colors. Ruby squeaked out loud as she turned in place, watching as the floor vanished and replaced with a visage of the castle she saw outside, not withered by time and looking as pristine as the when the stones were first laid.

The silver eyed teen gasped in wonder at the sight. Aurora continued her explanation. _**"…To when the world was whole. Back when magic was more than a mere fairy tale."**_ The castle vanished to reveal a lavish throne room. A large bear of a man with a wild black beard sat on the throne as a blonde-haired woman in a princess-like dress walked up to him.

"_**One day, a woman by the name of Salem approached my father, the king,"**_ Aurora stated, but Ruby couldn't see her. _**"She claimed to have stolen immortality from the gods and was offering my father the chance to obtain the same ability should he help her kill the gods of light and darkness."**_

Ruby watched in horrified silence as the king, Aurora's father, charge the woman, Salem, with a large battle axe and cut her in half, only for a golden light to stitch the blonde back together. Others tried their hands and failed in the same manner as their king. The scene changed to show a large group of people cheering for Salem, who stood amongst them, looking smug.

"_**This…was where it began," **_Aurora said darkly. Ruby turned back to her. _**"Many years before this, I gained the ability to look into the future. It was a power that made me loved among my people. But it caused me nothing but grief. It placed a great mental and physical strain upon me, and I could not control it. I tell you this because upon meeting this woman myself, my power activated and showed me a grave future…"**_

The scene changed again and showed a battle. Well, not really a battle; more like a massacre as two large dragons (one golden with antlers and the other was purple with traditional dragon horns) stared them down. The warriors shot all manners of lights at the dragons, but the purple one…somehow dragged them to its claws and formed a ball and crush it, causing a bright light to fly from it. Ruby shielded her eyes from the light, but as it died down and she lowered her arms, she gasped.

All the warriors, and everyone else in the world (how did she know that?!) were gone, turned to ash. Only the blonde woman remained. Then the purple dragon turned into a pillar of purple light and destroyed the moon! Ruby felt her knees shake.

"_**I know you are conflicted; thinking this is some elaborate prank, yet at the same time your soul is accepting the truth of your world's dark past," **_Aurora spoke, startling Ruby. _**"But rest assured, Ruby Rose, what I tell you is the truth. Once upon a time, magic was real, and thanks to the actions of one woman, the whole of humanity was killed off."**_

Ruby wasn't sure why, but she knew the ghost beside her was telling her the truth. "B-But…h-h-how…" She shook her head furiously. "How can any of that be possible?!" she raved, swinging her arms wildly. Her eyes stung for a moment, and Aurora winced for a moment. But Ruby didn't stop. "How can magic be real?! And if humanity died because of that Salem woman, how are we still here now?!"

"_**Anwar and Asmodeus, the ones you would call the gods of light and darkness, remade humanity after Salem's failed attempt to destroy them. A 'second chance,' I suppose. I know not the reason behind this, but it hardly matters at this moment."**_

"How can this not matter?!"

"_**Because what matters is that I foresaw our destruction, and took measures to prevent it,"**_ Aurora answered. _**"I refused to let the innocents of my kingdom suffer because of that woman's hatred. I tried to inform my father, but he refused to harken to my voice, believing they had a chance to live forever. Salem's honeyed words corrupted his rational mind and eroded his sense of reason.**_

"_**Luckily, I did find individuals that believed my prediction and swore allegiance to me and offered their aid in saving the people of our world from the coming destruction," **_Aurora continued, and the vision changed to show Aurora conversing with a knight, and several other different people. Ruby watched as the group worked behind their king and queen's back.

"_**It was a daunting task, but we found a way to preserve our people from their doom. We found a way to…'transfer' the souls of people into containers of sorts that we scattered around our separate kingdoms," **_Aurora said as the vision showed men and women making…

"Glass?" Ruby asked, her eyes widening as several large orbs of glass were being placed around the kingdom of Temne Svetlo. The princess nodded.

"_**Indeed. A most arduous undertaking, it was," **_Aurora commented. Ruby wasn't listening as she recalled the large green orbs she saw and the one she…landed…on…!

"Ahh!" Ruby screamed and grabbed her head. "If what you said is true, then what happens if you…break one…?!" she asked in fear. Aurora smiled at her.

"_**No worries, Ruby Rose, because upon their destruction, the collected souls are transferred to temporary bodies of metal and stone to protect them until a more permanent solution,"**_ Aurora explained. Ruby looked to Aurora and frowned.

"Bodies of metal and stone?" she questioned, as her face drained of color. "The golems…? B-But…that would mean…?" Aurora saw her horror and was confused. "T-That would mean I k-killed people…"

The spectral princess sighed. _**"What happened, Ruby Rose?"**_

"T…They attacked me," she admitted. "I…I thought they were just golems…" Aurora looked pained.

"_**They attacked you? Why would they…Could they have been driven mad by the Reawakening? I was sure it was safe for them…"**_ Aurora mused quietly, looking disheartened.

Ruby could feel her anguish. Though she was having trouble believing this was real, Ruby was certain if it was, she would have been beating herself up if her plans to save people hurt them in the end. Ruby took a hesitant step forward.

"H-Hey…uh…Princess Aurora…?" she called out, gaining the girl's attention. "I-It's ok…" she muttered quietly. "S-Things happen." Ruby swallowed the excess saliva in her mouth. "You couldn't have known…"

Aurora looked at Ruby in melancholy. _**"But will you be ok, Ruby Rose?"**_ she asked. Ruby nodded shakily.

"Y-Yeah! Totally!" She wasn't really, but Ruby intended to get better. She was a Huntress, after all. She knew she would be expected to do things like this.

Aurora nodded and turned to her coffin. _**"After that was settled, I began attempting to harness my power to see the future," **_she said. _**"I knew thanks to my vision that woman would survive, and I could not let her destroy humanity again. I tried to force my powers to show me people who could stop her in a distant future from my time.**_

"_**It was difficult, and the strain of forcing my power to work in such a way deteriorated my health."**_ Ruby held on to her every word at this point, interested in spite of her disbelief. _**"But, every person I saw could not meet the standards we would need to stand up to Salem. Then my visions showed me you, Ruby Rose," **_she continued on. That startled Ruby out of her trance.

"H-Huh?!"

"_**Out of the many people I was able to see over many possible futures, you stood out the most,"**_ Aurora explained._** "You are pure of heart, courageous, and selfless to a fault. I felt you could do what I could not, so after I decided to place my trust in a girl who wouldn't be born for many millennia, the group I formed and myself, worked on preserving myself and setting up the way to meet you, Ruby Rose.**_

"_**This sarcophagus has kept me locked outside of this sphere of reality, waiting for the day you would arrive so that we may converse," **_the princess of Temne Svetlo finished. _**"Sadly, it would seem fate had different plans than I. I had the route planned out for you to enter my tomb from the entrance. But, you found yourself crashing through the roof onto my sarcophagus. The Active Magic used to keep me alive flared and entered into you. But your body began rejecting the magic. Luckily, this awoke me, and I did my best to save you, but I could only isolate the magic into a single point."**_

"A…A single point…?" Ruby asked. A distraught look appeared on Aurora's face.

"_**Look,"**_ the princess said, motioning towards the pool. Ruby was confused, but otherwise she did as she was asked and walked stiffly over to the pool. When she leaned over to gaze at her reflection, she gasped loudly.

Her right eye was as she remembered, bright silver and white sclera; but her left was totally different. The white of her left eye was solid black, and the iris was shiny gold. She spluttered incoherently as Aurora spoke up again.

"_**I discovered you had a great amount of magic power centered…in your eyes," **_she explained. _**"I did not wish to have you die, so to save your life, I took the magic entering your body and sealed it in your left eye."**_

Desperately, Ruby reached for her Scroll and opened the camera. Switching to show her face, she stared down at the screen to see her black and gold left eye staring back at her with surprise and disbelief.

Weirdly enough, seeing her left eye different from her right made the possibility of magic seem totally real now. The feeling akin to a lead ball dropped into her stomach, making her feel queasy. She groaned.

"I don't feel so good," she mumbled and fell to her knees.

"_**Ruby Rose, I…"**_ Aurora tried to say something, but she fell short. She tried to place her hand on Ruby's shoulder, but once again, she fell short, simply letting her hand fall down. She simply stared down at the distraught teen with melancholy.

Ruby simply stared down at her new golden eye. She continued to think on what she just learned. Apparently, there was so immortal lady who had caused the death of humanity once before and now was likely trying to do so again? And a super old princess found a way to cheat death just so she could meet her and ask for Ruby's help in stopping her?

The young Huntress-in-training's head spun at this revelation. The fact that her left eye now had super harmful magic locked in it wasn't helping either. She looked around at the circular tomb and at Aurora before turning back to her reflection. Ruby's new heterochronic eyes stared back up at her. Her eyes narrowed.

"That woman, Salem," Ruby said, gaining Aurora's attention. The ghostly princess turned to Ruby, a curious look on her face. Ruby didn't turn to her as she continued, "She's still alive, right?" Aurora sighed.

"_**Yes. I'm afraid so," **_Aurora said. Ruby turned to her with a determined look on her face.

"Is she still a threat, like you said she was back then?"

"_**I am certain of it."**_

"Do you have a way to stop her?" she asked.

"_**I do, and it's in the room with us,"**_ Aurora said, turning to her sarcophagus. Ruby turn to it, confused. _**"This coffin not only is keeping me alive, Ruby Rose. It's proof that we can eventually kill the immortal Salem. With a simple rewriting of the runes on the lid, it can destroy magic, and given time, should we seal Salem into this coffin, it will slowly begin destroying whatever magic is keeping her from dying. It is…not the immediate solution I would wish for, but it will do its job admirably."**_

Ruby stared at the coffin for a few minutes, not speaking as she weighed out her options. Finally, she nodded and stood, turning to Aurora.

"Why can't you do it?" she questioned.

"_**If I could, I most certainly would," **_Aurora said. _**"But my body has been damaged. I have long since been weak in my bones, but Foresight has put much more strain on my body. The coffin is helping reverse some of the damage, but once I wake up, I will still be weak, and not strong enough to stop Salem, and if she's not put in the coffin within twenty-four hours of my awakening, the coffin will be useless. **_

"_**Essentially, you are my last hope, Ruby Rose," **_the princess concluded. Ruby nodded to her. Ruby wouldn't lie to herself: this whole thing was beyond suspicious. But, the silver-eyed huntress felt she could trust the ghost girl in front of her.

She made her decision.

"I'll do it!" she said, to Aurora's shock. "If she's as bad as you're saying, then I can't just turn around and walk away, knowing there's someone like her running around! I'll do whatever it takes to stop her!"

Aurora's face showed her shock. She stared at Ruby's determined face for a moment before she smiled. _**"Thank you, Ruby Rose,"**_ she said softly. _**"Thank you. I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am that you agree with me that Salem must be stopped!"**_

Ruby gave her a hesitant smile. "Yeah," she said. "So, what do we do first?"

"_**First, you must go to the temple above this groove,"**_ Aurora told her. _**"I must lull myself back to sleep or else the magic of the coffin will grow unstable and blow up."**_ Ruby was startled by that. _**"But fret not. I will be able to talk with you some more once you make it to the temple and retrieve a certain item you will need to travel Temne Svetlo safely."**_

"What kind of item?" Ruby questioned.

"_**A sigil. One that marks you a citizen of my kingdom, as well as a knight in service to my kingdom. Know this Ruby Rose, should you do this, and obtain that sigil, you will also be my knight, charged with my protection and fulfilling my will."**_

That gave Ruby pause for a moment, but she steeled herself. "Are you going to go all crazy like that Salem lady?" she asked.

"_**W-What-NO!"**_ the princess shouted indignantly.

"Then, we're fine!" Ruby told her. Aurora looked at her in confusion.

"_**Are you truly fine with that, Ruby Rose?"**_ she asked.

"Not…really," Ruby confessed. "But…Salem is the bigger threat. As long as you don't order me to hurt the people I care about or to do something I don't approve of, we're fine." Aurora smiled at that.

"_**Very well, Ruby Rose,"**_ she said._** "One last thing: do you see that silver floor stone in front of my coffin?"**_

Ruby turned back to the sarcophagus and nodded. "Uh, yeah. Why?"

"_**From what I could discern from Foresight, people of your time are not able to harness magic as they once could," **_Aurora explained. _**"That plate will grant you magic; it is my gift to you in order to stand against Salem. Simply step on it, and the magic will do the rest."**_

Ruby looked excited for a moment, but she hesitated. "It won't hurt, will it?" The princess shook her head.

"_**Not at all," **_she assured. _**"It might actually help you with any lingering pain and fatigue you are feeling."**_

Still understandably concerned, Ruby nodded and walked cautiously towards the plate. Swallowing her fear, she reached the plate and stepped on it. Instantly, she felt all her pain leave her. She gasped in exhilaration as she felt her strength return. She looked down at her hands, a warm feeling unlike anything she felt before welling through her veins; magic, she quickly deduced. "Whooooaaaaa!" she exclaimed.

"_**I must return to sleep for the moment, Ruby Rose," **_Aurora said, gaining the Huntress's attention. _**"But once you make it to the temple, we will speak again; this, I promise. I apologize, but it would seem that you will have to learn how to utilize your magic on your own for the time being."**_

Ruby nodded to her. "No worries! I think I can squeak by with just Aura," she assured her. "So, how to I reach that temple thingy?"

"_**Simply follow the lanterns along the path in front of the crypt," **_Aurora instructed. Ruby nodded.

"Got it!"

"_**Then, I wish you good luck, Ruby Rose!" **_Aurora said as she began to fade away. _**"OH! Before I go, please take care to avoid Quetzalcoatl until you obtain the sigil!" **_With that, she faded away, leaving Ruby alone in the tomb.

"W-Wait! Whose Quetzalcoatl?!" Ruby asked, but she didn't get an answer.

* * *

**An: I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm sorry if the scene with Ruby and Aurora was terrible. I tried to make it decent, if nothing else. **

**Temne Svetlo means "Dark Light" in Czech.**

**I hope you guys liked the name I gave the gods of light and darkness. I figured it would be less of a mouthful than 'gods of light and darkness.'**


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